Format = Player Position | Age on 1-4-2026 | Highest level played | Estimated time of arrival
1. BY Chase DeLauter | 23 | MLB | 2025
Here’s what Gray recently had to say in his 2026 Fantasy Outlook for DeLauter:
“He’s a monstrous lefty bat who takes a ton of walks. That’s who he is. It’s who he’s been for a few years. He went 7/1/.264 with a 15.8 walk and strikeout rate. Yep, 15.8% for both. He’s a .380 OBP guy with power. In my rookie outlook post for him last year, I said, “So he’s old. He’s old.” Not like dinosaur old, but Chase DeLauter is 23 and played less than 40 games in the minors last year. Does he have a tendency towards injuries? Besides, you can’t say inclination out loud without being like Dr. To sound evil.
Great recording. You don’t even have to say it out loud. Once you put “tendency” in your head with the voice of Dr. Evil, then it will remain that way. And it’s fun. I actually can’t stop doing it. Either way, I think DeLauter is the frontrunner for rookie of the year. Unless Cleveland sends him back to Triple-A, where he would almost certainly get hurt riding a bus, sleeping on a couch or getting into a fight with a gym-heavy mascot.
PS: I’ve been watching TENET on and off today and I have a feeling there’s a connection to DeLauter’s development path. I mean, he just showed up out of nowhere in the playoff lineup. Maybe his timeline is reversed.
2. 2B Travis Bazzana | 23 | AAA | 2026
The first overall pick in the 2024 draft, Bazzana brings patience and strength from the left side at 6-foot-1 and 199 pounds. He hasn’t had much contact as a professional, but the impact is still there. He slashed .245/.389/.424 with nine home runs and 12 stolen bases in 84 games, about 37 percent better than the league average at every level. He hasn’t been a disappointment per se, but I think it’s fair to say he’s an example of what you could get if you bargain hunt at the top of the list.
3. 1B/OF Ralphy Velazquez | 20 | AA | 2027
Velazquez, the 23rd overall pick in 2023, is a 6-foot-1, 240-pound left-handed slugger who seems like a sure bet for our game thanks to an intriguing mix of power, patience and contact skills. His catching days are behind him, and the bat responded with a big 2025. He hit 22 home runs in 122 games at two levels and finished strong over a 28-game stint with Double-A to finish the season slashing .330/.405/.589 with five home runs. He’ll likely move back to Akron to open the 2026 season, but a case can be made that he’s already reached that level, and Cleveland may need to stop slow-roasting all of their prospects.
4. SS Angel Genao | 21 | AA | 2026
At 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds, Genao fits the Cleveland prototype of a small switch-hitting infielder with plate skills and excellent hands both in the field and in the batter’s box. 2025 brought the first real hurdle in his development, as he hit .259/.323/.359 with two home runs and six stolen bases in 72 Double-A games. His 103 wRC+ was still better than league average, which is pretty solid considering his age, but most prospectors had him on a more aggressive trajectory than that, and I’m not convinced he’ll be much more than pretty solid at least in the near future.
5. RHP Khal Stephen | 23 | AA | 2027
People like what they like, and the people in Cleveland’s front office like pitchers who cover the strike zone with an abundance of plus pitches. So when they were shopping Shane Bieber, they chose Stephen: whose four offerings fit well together: a fastball with ride in the low-to-mid 90s, a disappearing changeup from the same release point and a slider-curveball combo that suggests significant skill with spin. In 103 innings across three levels, he struck out 110 batters against just 20 walks and posted a 2.53 ERA and 0.99 WHIP.
6. FROM Juneiker Caceres | 18 | A | 2030
I ranked Caceres 99th in my Top 100 update for mid-September 2025, in part because he worked his way into becoming a key part of several trades in my dynasty leagues down the road. I traded him along with Luis Pena at the Razz 30 for Seiya Suziki before the trade deadline, and when the offseason started a few weeks ago, that same duo was dealt for Cade Horton. It also changed hands a few times during the Highlander Invitational. Sometimes this kind of hype goes sideways, but if the interior of the echo chamber is screaming for a kid these days, it’ll probably hold its value for a while. Caceres, a left-handed hitter standing at 5’10” and 168 pounds, crossed the complex league at age 17 and finished the season with 30 games in Low-A. All told, he slashed .270/.379/.410 in 70 games against players who averaged about three years older than him.
7. 2b John Brito | 24 | AAA | 2026
2025 was supposed to be Brito’s big moment, or at least his big league debut season, but he broke his thumb on April 17 while sliding into third base for Triple-A Columbus. He missed about three months post-surgery and subsequently injured his hamstring, underwent surgery again and is reportedly ready to play winter ball. A selective switch-hitter with contact skills from both ends, the 6′ 202 pound Brito hit .256/.365/.443 with 21 home runs and 13 stolen bases in 144 Triple-A games during the 2024 season. He struck out just 105 batters (16.1%) against 88 walks (13.5%). With a center infield of Gabriel Arias and Brayan Rocchio, Cleveland remains a land of opportunity for anyone who can hit, so Brito should finally get his chance to get some playing time in spring training. The problem, of course, is that Bazzana will be with him.
8. by Jace Laviolette | 22 | Ncaa | 2027
LaViolette hit .258 in his junior season at Texas A&M, which cost him a few million dollars in the draft as he “fell” to 27th overall despite having arguably the best college power in the draft. At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, he blocks out the sun like a true All-Star. The club did not assign him to a full-season league after the draft. He may have been in the lab. LaViolette swings and misses on pitches he should be smashing, so pitch recognition and hand-eye coordination could have the biggest impact on his development. I might even put him at first base. He is athletic, especially for his size, so he is mainly played off the field. It might be good for his eyes to see everything up close for a while.
9. C Cooper Ingle | 24 | AAA | 2026
At 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, Ingle as a catcher leaves plenty of room for the umpires to see the plate. I’m not sure if that’s positive or negative. He’s hitting well enough, though, and he walked (16.9%) more than he struck out (16.7%) in 120 games at two levels this year, slashing .260/.389/.419 with 10 home runs. He’s a better real baseball prospect than fantasy prospect and a better OBP league prospect than roto prospect, so I’m not crazy about him. He’ll be on some top-hundred lists this winter, but I’d bet he’s a free agent in many dynasty leagues. Not that I wouldn’t pick him up. Just that the rush to get him this spring if he pushes for playing time could be the pinnacle of his dynasty value.
10. FROM CJ Kayfus | 23 | MLB | 2025
Kayfabe didn’t break the dynasty prospect wall, racking up 123 plate appearances in his 44 Major League games. He graduated from non-fantasy rosters on time, ending that Major League a few months. Kayfus, a 6-foot-1, 192-pound third-round pick in the 2023 draft, isn’t the kind of guy who generates much buzz on the prospect front unless he hits every step and commands a big-league look. So he did, slashing .300/.390/.539 with 14 home runs in 86 minor league games at two levels. His big league debut didn’t go that well (.220/.292/.412), but it fits the context nicely and gives him a chance to get some playing time in early 2026.
Thanks for reading!
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